Ive always mined with an SLF in the bubble but have also noticed the lack of NPC interest recently, wonder if its owt to do with always mining in friendly territory now?
Grind like mad for that Cutter, best trader in the game!
O7
Mining problem.
- Thread starter [VR] Mad Mike
- Start date
Grind like mad for that Cutter, best trader in the game!
O7
Yep.
before I went mining in my T10 I had a T9.
Gotta say, the slots in the T9 are absolutely perfect for a mining build.
You can fit everything perfectly, with no wasted slot capacity - no bunging, say, a 5A collector in a C6 slot etc.
If you fill all the hardpoints with mining lasers and run a G5 weapon-focused PDist, with 4 pips to weapons, it'll deplete a 'roid like a boss.
And, therein lies the problem.
There's no spare slots for any kind of defensive weapons... and, honestly, even if there was, the T9 can't turn fast enough to swat away an attacking Eagle or Adder easily.
At least that reduces the temptation to fit defensive weapons, I suppose.
In use, if everything goes according to plan you can just enter a ring, hoover up ore and then head back to your FC.
If you need to jump out, though, (or you get disconnected) there'll usually be those magical pirates who manage to find you when you jump back in.
So, you're in a defenceless slug of a ship, with half a hold full of something expensive and you're forced to put your tail between your legs and scuttle back to your FC just because you've been attacked by something like an Eagle or an Adder.
My T9 was a better mining build than my T10 but the T10 also had space for a pair of large MCs and a pair of large beam lasers (while retaining the same mining lasers as the T9), which made me feel a bit more comfortable about flying around with a hold full of ore.
And, no.
I wasn't joking about just ramming 'roids at full speed in a Cutter.
It's a widely accepted tactic.
With your cargo hatch extended (7D thrusters, weapon focused PDist & 4 pips to weapons), you're only going to be doing around 100m/sec and a 6C bi-weave shield - supported by a bunch of SBs - can easily soak up the hit.
And, as I said, the cargo hatch on the Cutter just happens to be in the perfect place to minimise limpet travel-time when the ship's nose is up against a 'roid.
FWIW, here's how I set up my Cutter when I went mining with it: https://s.orbis.zone/qJQE
And, since I'm looking at Coriolis, here's how the other ships would look, by comparison...
T10: https://s.orbis.zone/qJQK
T9: https://s.orbis.zone/qJQL
Anaconda: https://s.orbis.zone/qJQM
Corvette: https://s.orbis.zone/qJQN
The T9 & T10 deliberately used A-rated thrusters to help give them a bit more agility.
They also had an ADC fitted so I wouldn't die of boredom while landing them.
I suppose you could remove a couple of the defensive weapons from the T10 and fit a couple more mining lasers but, honestly, I always found the amount of lasers was a decent match for the number of collectors.
And, in the T10, it helped to have as much firepower as possible if I got attacked.
The Annie, 'vette and Cutter are all very similar, just with slight differences to fit the slots.
In the vette, in particular, (cos that's what I ended-up building) I never feel "vulnerable" with the huge MC/Beam for defence.
I've even destroyed pirates in Annies with it.
EDIT
While I'm at it, there are a couple of reasons why I've always stuck to 256t of cargo capacity for a heavy mining ship.
Firstly, 256t is (for me) a reasonable amount to mine without starting to get that "OMG, how much longer???!!!" feeling.
Secondly, 256t was the maximum amount you could fit in a shielded Python, so I could leave a Python at a nearby station, go mining, return to the station, swap to the Python and take the ore to market in a fairly agile, well-armed ship.
I guess the 2nd thing isn't as important now, with FCs and with the arrival of the T8, but it's still worth bearing in mind that you might, at some point, need to transfer cargo from a mining ship to a cargo ship.
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Interesting Cutter. I think a Corvette would earn money faster than that. Here's a normal build for a Cutter. It's faster, stronger and more cargo.
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
s.orbis.zone
Mine in a haz RES so you don't need a DSS. if you want to sell to the market rather than use a FC, store a GFSDB and fuel scoop at the nearest station. When you mine in a haz RES, it doesn't take so long because you get 50% more from each rock. You can add 3 x the pre-engineered class1 lasers, but that gives you much less control of where the fragments go, so what you save on extraction, you lose on collection. It takes around 45-50 mins to fill with 522T. How does that compare with yours?
I never worry about NPCs. I start mining straight away in the haz RES. Whenever the pirates come, I just give them what they ask for and get no trouble. Considering how much you get in a haz RES, they don't ask for much. It adds to the interest while you're mining, otherwise it can be a bit boring. I often pick up stuff other than Platinum, so when they ask fo 20T cargo or 525,467cr worth of cargo, I give them the stuff I don't want to keep, so it doesn't cost me anything.All of my mining is done out in the black so there is no problems with NPC's and most of my builds take this into account, I still have the remains of a T10 miner somewhere but it has not seen daylight in years
All of my mining is done out in the black so there is no problems with NPC's and most of my builds take this into account, I still have the remains of a T10 miner somewhere but it has not seen daylight in years
Thing is, with every ship other than the T9 (and the Beluga, if you're especially weird), it's the amount of collectors you can fit that dictates how many mining lasers you need.
There's no point in, for example, fitting 9x mining lasers to a T10 cos all that'll happen is that the collectors won't be able to keep up, chunks of ore will float away and then it'll take forever to retrieve them.
That being the case, once you've figured out a nice balance of collectors/lasers, you might as well bung some weapons in the remaining hardpoints... which, in turn, means you don't have to worry about going mining in populated systems.
Obviously, it's totally different in a T9, where you're going mining and nothing else... and if something else finds you, you're probably going to be in trouble... or, at least, you're in for a really annoying trip back to your FC, getting interdicted every few Ls.
There are no Haz Res's out in the black.
I mine in an opposing Power's territory. I haven't been interdicted once since PP2.0. As I mine in a haz RES, I see a few pirates there, but I get no trouble from them when I cooperate with their demands. It's like paying tax or for a licence to mine where you can get a lot more stuff. I've never found a reason to engage a pirate in combat during a mining session. It just wastes time.
That's the problem with mining out there, which is why I was wondering what your incentive is to mine there. Have you found some secret stuff or place? Don't tell me you've found Raxxla, where every planet has super-pristine rings, and the locals help you load up your ship or FC. When I was in Raxxla, I never thought to check the mining because of all the other good things there.
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I first started using that T9 for repairing damaged stations before the age of the FC, interdictions were regular and after a very short while I was beating them all the time
I mine for fun and fuel (tritium)
Honestly, I hate mining in RES's.
It always seems to get to the point where I've got, literally, 10 pirates nagging me for stuff and then I just get annoyed and start shooting.
I look for overlapping hotspots in rings and mine there.
In the Cutter I recall that I could easily fill my cargo hold in an hour, including travel time to and from the ring... which is often overlooked.
The 'vette is a bit slower than that - sometimes under an hour to collect 256t and sometimes a little more.
Like I said, I know the Cutter is the best mining ship but I just can't bring myself to use one for mining.
At one point I was planning on using a Cutter, with the intention of buying the "Raider" ship-kit just to make it look suitably groaty.
There's a bit of a technique you can use to minimise the pirates. When you arrive in the RES, fly out to 16km from the centre and wait for any pirates to scan you, which doesn't take long if any follow you out. After that, mine in a band 16 -20km from the centre by going round in a big circle. Start nearest the planet and use the orange or black sky to stay the same way up all the time, else you'll roll over and go back in the other direction over the same rocks. On your second visit in the same session roll over and go round the other way. In a Python or anything smaller, you fill up so quick that it's rare to see the pirates again, but if they do come, just give them what they ask for. If multiple pirates come at once, dump 20T of platinum, and they'll all think it's theirs, so they end up fighting each other for it while you carry on mining. I tell you, mining in a haz RES is much more fun even if you didn't get 50% extra.
Try it. Paesia planet 2 is pretty good or there's one in Macua planet 2.
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I don't have access to the Cutter, but I've used virtually every other ship for mining. Hands down, the T10 is my favorite laser miner.
For one thing, even if I had a Cutter, I would not likely use it as such, I love mining, but anything over an hour and a half would tax my patience. With that in mind, the T-10 with 256 in cargo is about perfect.
I do carry an SLF because I occasionally like to run it in a res zone and sic'ing my fighter on a troublesome eagle or such is satisfying... And profitable!
As far as collectors go, I've never seen where more than seven would be useful or much faster.
The T9 is just a target, the vette is OK, but it just seems wrong to use it, I hated the Annie for mining, it seems like you have to stick the nose into the roid to get the job done.
Keep the speed down when launching prospectors, I don't normally have issues with the T10, i put no pips to the engine, cargo scoop down. I usually carry a size 3 prospector and keep 2 limpets out, fire both, track the first, when your done mining or if you are going to pass, lock up the second and keep going.
For one thing, even if I had a Cutter, I would not likely use it as such, I love mining, but anything over an hour and a half would tax my patience. With that in mind, the T-10 with 256 in cargo is about perfect.
I do carry an SLF because I occasionally like to run it in a res zone and sic'ing my fighter on a troublesome eagle or such is satisfying... And profitable!
As far as collectors go, I've never seen where more than seven would be useful or much faster.
The T9 is just a target, the vette is OK, but it just seems wrong to use it, I hated the Annie for mining, it seems like you have to stick the nose into the roid to get the job done.
Keep the speed down when launching prospectors, I don't normally have issues with the T10, i put no pips to the engine, cargo scoop down. I usually carry a size 3 prospector and keep 2 limpets out, fire both, track the first, when your done mining or if you are going to pass, lock up the second and keep going.
Yeah. Thrusting up a bit when the collector launches does the trick.
I mined quite a lot in a T10 back then and the prospector can be really annoying sometimes. Goes for a lot of ships actually. Thrusting up while it is deploying usually fixes this.
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I tried it in my T10. didn't work for me. all my limpets died!They are joking about ramming, well maybe not - the cutter suffers from very bad brakes
would it not make sense to have a mining focussed multi limpet controller in there?Interesting Cutter. I think a Corvette would earn money faster than that. Here's a normal build for a Cutter. It's faster, stronger and more cargo.
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
Mine in a haz RES so you don't need a DSS. if you want to sell to the market rather than use a FC, store a GFSDB and fuel scoop at the nearest station. When you mine in a haz RES, it doesn't take so long because you get 50% more from each rock. You can add 3 x the pre-engineered class1 lasers, but that gives you much less control of where the fragments go, so what you save on extraction, you lose on collection. It takes around 45-50 mins to fill with 522T. How does that compare with yours?
good to know.. i would be interested to know how they are not as good. their travel speed is the same so i guess it must be range or longevity.
however for me personally my goal will be to pick up the bits ASAP after knocking them off the roid so on that more is most definitely better and i have to get up close and personal anyway due to the mining laser range.............. however i am not an experienced miner having been out of that game for a good few years so happy to be corrected.
whilst on the subject of mining and to save starting another thread (and i will probably do this anyway temporarily just to give it a go)
but is it worth putting a sub surface missile launcher as well as a surface abrasion blaster on my mining ship just so i can get the extras from the odd asteroid i find? (i wont be going out of my way looking for them)
i dont want to put mining lasers on the class 1 as they produce smaller chunks which i think could over all slow my collectors down so really its a choice between not bothering at all, or using the small pylons for extra mining strategies.... but really is it just a waste of time on a mining laser build?
but is it worth putting a sub surface missile launcher as well as a surface abrasion blaster on my mining ship just so i can get the extras from the odd asteroid i find? (i wont be going out of my way looking for them)
i dont want to put mining lasers on the class 1 as they produce smaller chunks which i think could over all slow my collectors down so really its a choice between not bothering at all, or using the small pylons for extra mining strategies.... but really is it just a waste of time on a mining laser build?